Welcome to “Down on the Farm,” your weekly Seattle Kraken prospects update. This week and next, these will be slimmed-down “holiday” updates. I expect to return with fully loaded reports from the World Junior Championship and a mid-season Kraken prospect ranking as we move into the new year.
In the interim, we’ll still bring you all of the Down on the Farm content you’ve come to expect, including news from around the organization, weekly and season-to-date data updates, all-shifts videos, Sound Of Hockey Prospect of the Week, a preview of the week ahead, and more.
If you have a Seattle Kraken prospect–related question you’d like to see featured in a future column, drop us a note below or on X or BlueSky @deepseahockey or @sound_hockey. Happy holidays to all!
More information on the Mason Marchment deal
NHL trade rumors ticked up this past week as the league approached two milestones. The first was the “Roster Freeze.” From midnight ET Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025, through midnight ET on Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025, teams would not be able to make trades, place players on waivers, or loan players—with the exception of transactions made necessary by injuries (i.e., emergency recalls) or the activation of players off injured lists.
The second marker was 75 days before the March 6, 2026, NHL Trade Deadline—which fell on Dec. 21, 2025. Why was this date important? A new CBA rule restricting multiple salary-retention transactions on a contract within 75 days meant that if a player was going to be moved to a contender at the deadline with up to 75 percent of his salary “retained” by other clubs, a first trade involving that player would need to be completed by Dec. 21. In reality, due to the Holiday Roster Freeze, this meant the deal needed to get done by the end of the day on Friday.
As it turns out, we didn’t see any moves involving salary retention on Friday, but we did see two NHL players moved before the Roster Freeze. The Los Angeles Kings traded Phillip Danault to the Montreal Canadiens. And the Seattle Kraken dealt Mason Marchment to the Columbus Blue Jackets.
It’s often apocryphal to regard a deal announced close to a deadline as a “last-minute deal.” In this case, though, it seems the deal really did come together in the waning moments before the Roster Freeze. Aaron Portzline of The Athleticreports that the Kraken and Blue Jackets did not begin discussions in earnest until Kraken GM Jason Botterill called Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell at 8:00 pm ET on Friday, Dec. 19. After three hours of negotiations, the teams placed the trade call formalizing the transaction at 11:22 pm ET.
While Marchment had a 10-team no-trade list, the Blue Jackets were not on the list.
As mentioned, there was no salary retention involved in the deal. Seattle has all three retention slots available as the team moves toward the deadline. This is relevant if the Kraken become true deadline sellers, with veterans on expiring contracts like Jamie Oleksiak, Jaden Schwartz, Jordan Eberle, and Eeli Tolvanen potentially available.
The Seattle Kraken have significant draft capital to make upgrades
There has been some (slight) confusion about the return for Mason Marchment. All reports agree the Kraken received a fourth-round pick originally held by the New York Rangers—acquired by the Blue Jackets in the Jack Roslovic deal—in the upcoming 2026 NHL Draft, as well as a 2027 second-round pick. Reports differ as to whether the Kraken received Columbus’s 2027 second-round pick or a 2027 second-round pick that originally belonged to the Minnesota Wild.
The trade history is a bit complicated, but I believe I’ve gotten to the bottom of it with the help of PuckPedia. Columbus acquired the Wild pick in a 2024 transaction that sent David Jiricek to Minnesota, giving the Blue Jackets two second-rounders. Columbus then traded the lower of those two 2027 second-round picks to the Colorado Avalanche in a deal for Miles Wood over the summer. Under the terms of that deal, however, if Columbus traded the other pick in the interim, the Avalanche would receive that pick instead (regardless of whether it ultimately ended up being higher or lower).
Since the Kraken’s official social media account indicated the team obtained Columbus’s own second-rounder, we can surmise that Columbus will be sending that pick to Seattle and Minnesota’s pick to Colorado. With Minnesota primed to be a Stanley Cup contender for the next two years, this could be a meaningful difference.
Following the deal, the Kraken now have eight picks—four in the first round and four in the second round—across the next two drafts. In addition to its own first-round picks, Seattle has first-rounders originally assigned to Tampa Bay in each of the next two drafts. In addition to its own second-round picks, Seattle has second-rounders from Columbus and the Winnipeg Jets in 2027.
This gives the team ample latitude to make an aggressive move for a top-of-the-lineup player if such an opportunity comes along, without disrupting its prospect pipeline. And this is before potential transactions involving expiring veteran contracts at the deadline.
Notes on three more Kraken prospects
Jake O’Brien | F | Brantford Bulldogs (OHL)
After a week of camp and one pre-tournament game, Team Canada announced its skater cuts, effectively finalizing its World Juniors roster of forwards and defensemen—absent an unexpected late assignment from an NHL team. Unfortunately for Kraken prospect Jake O’Brien, he was among those released from camp.
We had previewed this as a possibility when he was skating with a “spare parts” line during camp that included a likely cut (and Brantford teammate) in Marek Vanacker. It is still likely to be a disappointment for O’Brien. He is unquestionably one of Canada’s 12 most skilled forwards, but he has struggled to produce on the national stage in the past.
From my vantage point, O’Brien plays a game that can seem fairly “quiet” for several shifts until he suddenly unlocks two or three high-danger scoring chances with his passing and hockey IQ.
It’s unsurprising that O’Brien would not necessarily impress in a camp setting, but if a lack of camp impact was the reason he was cut, it feels short-sighted. It sure would be a shame if that came back to haunt Team Canada.
O’Brien still projects to figure prominently on next year’s World Juniors team, when he will be 19 years old.
Alexis Bernier | D | Chicoutimi Saguenéens (QMHL)
Though he is still recovering from summer ACL reconstruction surgery, Alexis Bernier was traded from the Baie-Comeau Drakkar to the Chicoutimi Saguenéens on Friday, Dec. 19.
The Saguenéens are a top QMJHL team this season and have significant playoff aspirations. The return in draft capital was substantial, and there was no indication in the reporting that the picks were “conditional” on Bernier’s return to the ice. This creates the impression that there is optimism for Bernier’s return toward the end of the QMJHL season, even if there is no official timeline yet.
As always with junior trades, the trade of Bernier’s QMJHL rights has no impact on his status with the Kraken. Seattle retains his NHL rights as an unsigned 2024 third-round pick.
Visa Vedenpää | G | Kärpät (Liiga)
We noted last week that Vedenpää had not played in nearly a month while serving as the backup goaltender for Kärpät. The team finally got him some work on Tuesday of last week, assigning him to Hermes, a team in the second-tier Finnish league, Mestis. Vedenpää stopped 33 of 36 shots on goal, but Hermes fell by a 3–2 score.
Kraken prospects data update
Forward Barrett Hall scored a goal and added two assists for the St. Cloud State Huskies last weekend, which was enough to earn him Sound Of Hockey Prospect of the Week in a relatively quiet seven-day stretch for Seattle’s prospect pool.
O’Brien and Nathan Villeneuve are second and fifth, respectively, in the OHL in points per game. Both project as NHL pieces for the Kraken (or elsewhere).
In addition to a solid Liiga start, Kim Saarinen drew a start in a World Juniors pre-tournament game for Finland on Friday, Dec. 19. He stopped 14 of 17 shots in a Finland win over Germany. It remains to be determined if he will see time in net when the real games begin.
After a slow start due to injury, Nikke Kokko has assumed a true starter workload for Coachella Valley over the last few weeks, starting nine of the Firebirds’ last 11 games.
Highlight of the Week
It hasn’t been a great season for Eduard Sale, but every once in a while, he’ll still flash the skill level that made him a first-round pick.
🚨 SALE WITH THE POWERPLAY GOAL AND TO TIE THE GAME 🚨
With a light holiday schedule ahead, we’ll give our Deep Sea Hockey Games of the Week to World Juniors pre-tournament matchups currently underway. You can watch them (with a monthly subscription) on USAHockey.tv.
Tracking 2026 NHL Draft prospects: Tynan Lawrence
Tynan Lawrence’s stock has risen from potential top-15 pick to potential threat for the No. 1 overall pick, despite being slowed by injury for much of the fall. For many, Lawrence is the clear top center in the draft, with his primary appeal coming from his skating and two-way skill. Lawrence has been a volume scorer in the USHL, but the overall offensive skill is a tick below the level of a Gavin McKenna or Ivar Stenberg.
Curtis is a Sound Of Hockey contributor and member of the Kraken press corps. Curtis is an attorney by day, and he has read the NHL collective bargaining agreement and bylaws so you don’t have to. He can be found analyzing the Kraken, NHL Draft, and other hockey topics on Twitter and Bluesky @deepseahockey.
Mason Marchment, we hardly knew ye. The Seattle Kraken traded the 6-foot-5 winger to the Columbus Blue Jackets late Friday, mere minutes ahead of the NHL’s holiday roster freeze. In return, the Kraken received a 2027 second-round draft pick and a 2026 fourth-round draft pick, a slightly better return than the 2025 fourth-rounder and 2026 third-rounder that Seattle sent to Dallas to acquire him over the offseason.
“I’d like to thank Mason for his contributions to our club, and we wish him and his family all the best in Columbus,” general manager Jason Botterill said via press release. “This trade gives us more draft capital and flexibility as we look to improve our team moving forward.”
Despite coach Lane Lambert utilizing Marchment in a high-leverage role, things just never really got going during his short tenure in Seattle. He posted four goals and nine assists in 29 games but also led the Kraken forwards in giveaways and—based on our Twitter mentions almost every single night—was not exactly beloved by the fanbase.
The transaction also suggests the team was not overly enamored with his sometimes lackadaisical performance. Trading him in the midst of Losing Streak Cynthia, when the Kraken have lost 10 of their last 11, and with Jaden Schwartz, Jared McCann, Brandon Montour, and Berkly Catton all out with injuries, tells you everything you need to know about how the organization viewed him. There was clearly no interest in bringing him back after his contract expires following this season.
There were some good moments for Marchment with the Kraken, like his Opening Night goal against the Anaheim Ducks and his two-goal game against the Utah Mammoth a week ago. But the highlights were few and far between, and he also had some brutal gaffes and seemed to lose the puck for no particular reason multiple times per game.
He was also at the center of several on-ice controversies, including after he blew up Darnell Nurse against Edmonton on Nov. 29 and wouldn’t answer the proverbial bell. That sequence led to the Oilers chasing him around and taking runs at other players, including Catton.
Here's the root of the disagreement. Mason Marchment leveled Darnell Nurse from behind. Adam Henrique challenged him, but he wouldn't accept a fight.
Seattle lost that game 4-0, and Marchment was then not in the lineup for the rematch on Dec. 4 due to a mysterious “injury.” Edmonton got its vengeance on the Kraken with a 9-4 drubbing in that one, and we never did find out the designation on that injury…
The most recent bit of controversy came when Marchment got into a post-whistle tussle with Josh Manson in Seattle’s 5-3 loss to Colorado on Tuesday, throwing gloved punches at the Avalanche defenseman and inciting a full-line brouhaha. When Manson dropped his gloves, Marchment appeared to shy away. In the ensuing chaos, Brandon Montour did drop his gloves and started pounding away on Brent Burns. Montour later left the game with an injury and was unavailable on Thursday.
Marchment did deliver two unforgettable moments, though:
Just an all-time goal celebration from Mason Marchment. #SeaKraken broadcast doing him dirty with the reverse angle here.😂 pic.twitter.com/Zds666dQro
With Seattle now in last place in the Pacific Division and seven points out of a playoff spot, is this an indication the team is officially in sell mode? Heck, are the Kraken in tank mode, even? Or does the front office view this as addition by subtraction—moving on from a player that simply wasn’t working out here?
Check back to Sound Of Hockey for more analysis on the Mason Marchment trade in the coming days…
This team. Things went from horrendous to atrocious on Thursday, when the Seattle Kraken—who held a one-goal lead entering the third period for the second straight game—fumbled it away again, suffering their fourth straight loss and 10th in 11 games (1-9-1).
Against the NHL-leading Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday, you knew the 3-2 lead going into the third was anything but safe. In this one, against a bad Flames team that had lost two of its previous three, it felt like the Kraken were finally going to find a way to close out a victory and generate some semblance of positive vibes within the group.
Instead, they took two straight penalties in the third period (five total in the game), allowed a season-high 46 total shots through to Joey Daccord, and once again let a winnable game slip away in a 4-2 loss.
With the defeat, the Kraken are now on their second consecutive named losing streak—Losing Streak Cynthia—which makes landfall right on the heels of the catastrophic Losing Streak Camille.
Here are Three Takeaways from yet another Kraken loss.
Takeaway #1: A third-period meltdown
Although the Flames haven’t had great results this season, they do tend to be a high shot-volume team, averaging 29.5 shots per game, sixth-most in the NHL. On this night, they threw everything at Daccord, who was excellent and gave Seattle a chance to win despite being outshot exactly 2-1 (46-23).
Daccord’s teammates put him in a brutal position late, forcing him to kill two straight penalties in a high-volume game. Defensive-zone time is taxing on a goalie regardless of shot count, and back-to-back penalty kills under those conditions are especially punishing. Eventually, Calgary broke through.
Nazem Kadri tied the game on a power-play one-timer at 10:04 of the third, and Matt Coronato scored the winner just 65 seconds later.
The Kraken had a 3-on-2 brewing, with Adam Larsson jumping into the play. Eeli Tolvanen tried to hit Larsson at the blue line, but the pass was picked off and the play reversed. Tolvanen and Larsson collided trying to recover, and Rasmus Andersson hit Coronato in stride at the Seattle line. At full speed, Coronato burned around a flat-footed Vince Dunn and sniped it over Daccord’s left shoulder.
…AAAAAaaaaaand 3-2 Flames.
Matt Coronato with a snipe. Jonathan Huberdeau gets his 800th point.
“More detail. More detail in certain areas that are game changers,” coach Lane Lambert said. “We cannot turn the puck over entering the blue line on their third goal. It just can’t happen. And we keep doing these things over and over again, and it’s getting old, and we’ve got to figure this out.”
Daccord may have wanted that last goal back—it was unscreened and from an angle—but you can’t hang this one on him. He finished with a .933 save percentage and deserved a better outcome.
Kaapo Kakko offered an interesting perspective afterward, saying he thinks the team is “scared” to make plays when protecting a one-goal lead.
Lambert didn’t like that idea one bit. “I think that’s ridiculous,” Lambert scoffed. “I think we needed to get on the forecheck. We talked about staying on our toes, so if that’s what’s going on, then it has to change.”
Takeaway #2: Still liking the Nyman/Wright/Kakko line
I touched on this after the last game as well, but the Jani Nyman, Shane Wright, and Kakko line continues to impress. For a team desperate for offense and chemistry, it’s refreshing to see a trio consistently creating something.
After Wright scored against Colorado on Tuesday, Kakko followed up with a power-play goal in this game, with both of his regular linemates on the ice as part of the unit.
Nyman nearly lost the puck along the wall just inside the blue line but recovered it and fed Ryker Evans rolling downhill. Kakko timed his drive perfectly from the corner, presenting his stick as Evans threaded a shot-pass under MacKenzie Weegar’s stick and onto Kakko’s tape for an easy deflection into the net.
🎶 HEYYYYY KAAPO KAKKO! 🎶 🚨
Shot-pass by Ryker Evans, perfect redirection by Kakko. Power-play goal.
It was a beautiful sequence, and another sign that this line is building something.
HOWEVER…
Takeaway #3: Why Shane Wright doesn’t get as much usage as Chandler Stephenson
While that line contributed Seattle’s second goal, they were also on the ice for the Flames’ first. Mikael Backlund’s tying goal at 10:20 of the second period—a bit of a doinker—came immediately off a defensive-zone face-off.
Sound Of Hockey’s Blaiz Grubic wrote Thursday about Wright’s development and noted that one reason he doesn’t get as much ice time as Chandler Stephenson (who has four goals and three assists in his last seven games and scored a beauty in this one) is Lane Lambert’s lack of trust in Wright on defensive-zone draws. Wright starts just 5.6 percent of his shifts in Seattle’s end.
Flames answer. Shane Wright had Mikael Backlund tied up, but it glanced off a skate.
This is why defensive-zone starts matter, and why Lane Lambert leans on Stephenson so heavily for these draws.
Backlund’s goal is a clear example of why. Wright stayed with Backlund and tied up his stick reasonably well, but the clean face-off loss put Seattle on the back foot immediately, and Backlund ultimately got a fortunate bounce. Worth noting, Wright didn’t get the defensive-zone start by choice; Seattle had previously iced the puck, meaning they weren’t allowed to change lines.
Wright’s usage frustrates fans because everyone wants to see him continue to grow and take on more responsibility. But these are the details Lambert keeps referencing. To earn trust and move up the lineup, Wright needs to improve in these areas. He likely will over time, and when that happens, the minutes will follow—but this is important context in the meantime.
I’m sure you will all react very calmly and respectfully to this take in the comment section. (Seriously, please be nice to each other. It’s been a little ugly in there lately.)
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go find something to break.
Darren Brown
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at soundofhockey.com and the host of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is a member of the PHWA and is also usually SOH’s Twitter intern (but please pretend you don’t know that). Follow him @DarrenFunBrown and @sound_hockey or email darren@soundofhockey.com.
What happened on the ice Tuesday should have been the story. It was a hard-fought, entertaining battle in which the underdog and heavily slumping Seattle Kraken went toe to toe with the NHL-leading Colorado Avalanche, only to be undone by the superstar prowess of Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar.
Instead, what transpired after the game quickly overtook the narrative. In the hours following and throughout Wednesday, media members from across North America and beyond began taking notice of how the post-game press conference had unfolded.
Seattle coach Lane Lambert spent about a minute on stage, during which Bob Condor, editor in chief of the Kraken’s official website, was the only attendee permitted to ask questions.
“The bottom line was it wasn’t the right call at all, and it was a mistake and would never happen again and won’t happen again,” a member of the Kraken’s communications department said.
Before Lambert had entered the media room, Condor spoke with several reporters in attendance and asked which questions they wanted him to ask, noting that he had been informed by other team staffers that he would ask all of the questions.
From Sound Of Hockey’s perspective, it was difficult in the moment to believe that this was truly how things would proceed. But when Lambert arrived, Condor retained the microphone for the entirety of the coach’s one-minute press conference, asked five rapid-fire questions that were met with notably brief responses, and then a Kraken public relations representative ended the availability without offering the microphone to other reporters in the room.
“Last night after the game, the questions that were posed to Lane during the press conference were, I guess you want to call it, funneled through Bob, who writes for the Kraken,” the team representative said. “And other reporters weren’t given the chance to ask questions in that moment, as [Sound Of Hockey] personally experienced.”
This is accurate. Sound Of Hockey was asked by Condor for questions, but for those unfamiliar with standard media procedures, this is not how post-game press conferences are typically conducted. It is a problematic approach for a professional sports organization that relies on an independent media corps to provide access, insight, and accountability.
“I feel bad for Bob, too, because we put him in a position where he’s… all I have to say, obviously, is it’s a tough position for Bob to be put in.”
Even though Condor—who was not involved in the decision but was instructed to ask all questions—solicited input from other reporters and relayed their questions, the optics of the arrangement were poor, particularly given the timing. Conducting the press conference this way created the appearance that an NHL head coach was avoiding questions from independent reporters after his team suffered its ninth loss in 10 games.
The perception of a coach hiding from the media does not fully reflect what happened, though. According to the Kraken communications department, the decision was made independently by them, and the organization maintains that Lambert was unaware of the altered plan for the availability. “Support for Lane was the basis of it, but it wasn’t because we didn’t want to give others a chance [to ask questions].”
Since then, the Kraken PR staff has engaged in damage control, reaching out to reporters who were present—and others who were not present but who contacted the team for an explanation—to offer apologies and provide context for the decision.
“It doesn’t reflect what we’re trying to do in Seattle as a new team and trying to make inroads with a new market and build relationships with media,” the team employee said. “It doesn’t represent what we’re all about, and so we’ve spent the day… we own the decision, obviously. And we’ve all made decisions we’d wish we’d done differently, and that was definitely one of them. And we spent much of last night and today connecting with— hopefully we’ve reached all the reporters who were in the room last night… There’s a long list of reasons why that just wasn’t the right call.”
It is clear the Kraken communications department is taking the misstep seriously and is remorseful for how the situation was handled.
“It’s not who we are as a communications team.”
Darren Brown
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at soundofhockey.com and the host of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is a member of the PHWA and is also usually SOH’s Twitter intern (but please pretend you don’t know that). Follow him @DarrenFunBrown and @sound_hockey or email darren@soundofhockey.com.
The Seattle Kraken gave it their all against the vaunted Colorado Avalanche and nearly came away with an unlikely victory. But in the end, Colorado’s stars proved to be too much and handed the Kraken their ninth loss in 10 games.
“I thought we played hard, like we have been,” coach Lane Lambert said. “We just can’t find a way to get it over the finish line.”
Here are Three Takeaways after a 5-3 Kraken loss to the Avalanche.
Takeaway #1: Every chance to win it
If you put this game in a vacuum and forget about the fact that the Kraken have gone 1-8-1 since Nov. 23, you’d feel great about their performance. Ostensibly, they played one of their best games of the season, going toe to toe with a team that came in with just TWO regulation losses through 31 games.
In fact, the Kraken had every chance to win this one, taking a 3-2 lead after Chandler Stephenson scored his second power-play goal in as many games at 19:24 of the second period to send Seattle into the third in the driver’s seat.
STEVIE DOES IT! 🚨
His seam pass, intended for Matty Beniers, hits Brent Burns' skate and caroms through Blackwood. #SeaKraken taking a 3-2 lead into the 3rd period. pic.twitter.com/CqT7yVrJ4R
But Nathan MacKinnon did Nathan MacKinnon things, racking up two goals (one an empty-netter) and an assist in the third period to help Colorado rally back for its NHL-leading 24th win of the season.
The Avalanche converted on essentially the same play twice in a six-minute span. Both times, Cale Makar walked across the top of the zone from left to right, then passed it back across to MacKinnon in the left circle. On the first such look, MacKinnon one-timed it off Adam Larsson and in to tie the game 3-3 at 2:40 of the third.
The Kraken then got a power play AND a penalty shot after Josh Manson put his hand over the puck in the crease. They failed to convert on the power play, and Jordan Eberle hit the post on the penalty shot.
Just 26 seconds later, Vince Dunn went to the box for tripping, and the Avs struck again on the Makar-to-MacKinnon connection. This time, the puck got a friendly bounce off the end wall for Brock Nelson to bang it home.
4-3 Avs. Brock Nelson gets a good bounce after they run the exact same play that MacKinnon scored on six minutes earlier. PPG. #SeaKrakenpic.twitter.com/Wl4Pibw756
“We made a big mistake at the end on the last kill,” Lambert said, during his very strange media availability (more on that in Takeaway 3). “We can’t make that. The power play scored for us, so, aside from the goal we gave up, which was a critical situation and a critical error, [special teams] were fine, but again, not good enough. Didn’t get the job done.”
I believe the “critical error” Lambert was referring to was Ben Meyers shading from the left side over to the right and leaving that side unprotected. Meyers also got his pocket picked by MacKinnon earlier in the sequence, which eventually led to MacKinnon’s first goal.
Takeaway #2: Nyman / Wright / Kakko
Lambert shuffled up his lines for this one, making the “top line” Eeli Tolvanen, Chandler Stephenson, and Freddy Gaudreau. That was clearly a matchup play, hoping to get three players he trusts defensively out against MacKinnon as much as possible.
He also gave Shane Wright another look between the two big Finns, Jani Nyman and Kaapo Kakko. All three looked effective against an outstanding team and were rewarded with a good, hard-working goal at 3:03 of the second period.
WRIGHT AS RAIN! ☔️ 🚨
This Nyman/Wright/Kakko line has been solid tonight, and they get rewarded.
Wright hits Nyman in the 🍑 with his shot, Jani hits the post with the rebound, then Shane Wright cleans it up.
That’s a trio I’d like to see stick together and try to develop some chemistry. It’s high time for all three to get going, and they seem to work well together.
Takeaway #3: A strange post-game experience
The post-game experience after this one was quite bizarre, with media availability handled in an especially peculiar way. Considering that—even though the Kraken took yet another ‘L’—they played a great game, players and coaches shouldn’t have felt embarrassed or hesitant to face the media, which is generally quite fair to them in this city.
But they received extra protection on this night in a way I’ve never seen before in my five years of closely covering the organization, with Lane Lambert only fielding a few questions from a team employee and none from reporters.
To set the scene and give you a peek behind the curtain, I’ll speak personally. In addition to my Sound Of Hockey duties, I’m also the local Seattle correspondent for NHL.com. That means wearing a lot of hats on home game nights: writing the neutral game story for NHL.com on a deadline, running the Sound Of Hockey Twitter (but don’t tell anyone it’s me), and trying to ask meaningful questions of players and coaches in post-game scrums so I can complete the NHL.com article and eventually Three Takeaways here on Sound Of Hockey… dot com.
After all that, I drive home, usually around midnight, and start actually writing Three Takeaways, which takes at least an hour. If all goes well, I’m asleep by 2 a.m.
That’s all to say that I—and others in the local media corps—invest a lot into covering the Kraken and filling gaps in a sports landscape dominated by the Seahawks and Mariners. The Kraken need us.
One challenge of the NHL.com role is that I’m expected to tell the story from the perspective of the winning team, with commentary from the losing team mixed in. While I’d prefer to always go to the Kraken dressing room, a stretch like this one means I’ve been visiting the opposing locker room more often than not. Even so, I typically still make it to Lane Lambert’s press conference, where I ask at least one question. (I’d prefer to ask more, but I understand the dynamics of a shared presser and can’t always hog the mic.)
On this particular night, I went to the Avalanche dressing room, where players were understandably celebratory after the comeback win. I asked Mackenzie Blackwood what it’s like playing behind Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar just as MacKinnon walked back in from his TNT interview. Somewhat jokingly—but very much on the record—Blackwood said, “He’s fucking nasty!” while nodding toward MacKinnon. MacKinnon shouted back, “Next question!”
Blackwood then doubled down: “No, those guys are fucking unbelievable leaders, and I love to watch those guys on a nightly basis.” That unnecessary on-mic cursing got a chuckle from the room.
After that, I asked Colorado coach Jared Bednar a few questions in the hallway outside the Avalanche dressing room and then headed to the Kraken media room, where Lambert had not yet arrived. When Lambert did come in, the microphone—normally passed from reporter to reporter—was already in the hands of a Kraken employee, who asked a short series of questions. Lambert gave brief answers, and the Kraken PR representative then cut off the presser without allowing anyone else in the room to ask a question.
It was peculiar behavior and a bad look for a team desperately trying to maintain interest in a crowded sports market. I included the background on my night not to complain (I absolutely love doing all this; otherwise, I wouldn’t do it), but to illustrate how much effort goes into covering a team that has lost nine of its last 10 games and frankly isn’t earning much positive attention right now.
All that said, following the availability, it was communicated that this approach was a one-off decision and would not be repeated.
The Kraken had their jump back in this game after looking sluggish on Sunday against the Buffalo Sabres. Many on the team have been sick, with Mason Marchment missing that game, and then Kaapo Kakko and Vince Dunn missing practice on Monday. All three were back in the lineup, making things feel like Seattle was inching in the right direction in terms of its many health- and injury-related issues.
But early in the third period, Mason Marchment found himself throwing gloved fists with Josh Manson.
FISTICUFFS! 🥊
Mason Marchment gets into with Josh Manson, and the two start throwing massive punches with gloves on, then all hell breaks loose.
Chaos ensued, and Brandon Montour ended up on the ice, punching Brent Burns. Montour left the game after this and did not return. Lambert did not give an update on his status.
Needless to say, the Kraken simply cannot survive adding Brandon Montour to their injured list.
Darren Brown
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at soundofhockey.com and the host of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is a member of the PHWA and is also usually SOH’s Twitter intern (but please pretend you don’t know that). Follow him @DarrenFunBrown and @sound_hockey or email darren@soundofhockey.com.
